by A J Newman
After several hours, Aaron tried to start the semi and it cranked over a couple of times and then started.
He drove the semi and Sharon followed in their truck. As much as they hated the MREs, it still made sense to take them since they had years left on their shelf life and were much lighter than the can goods.
“I’ll back up to the trailer and you be prepared to jack up the dolly wheels after the truck and trailer are hooked up. Keep your rifle handy in case someone gets nosy. We’ll both get the gear we need from the Hazmat trailer, load it up and drive away. The whole operation should only take ten minutes.”
“I’ll follow you until we find a place to load our supplies and gear into the trailer.”
“Let’s do it.”
Aaron drove straight over to the trailer parking lot and right up to the trailers with Sharon following. He started backing up to the trailer they wanted. He backed under the trailer, climbed out of the cab, locked the trailer to the semi and hooked up the air brake hoses.
“Lights came on in a couple of houses. We have someone’s interest. Let’s hurry.”
They opened the Hazmat trailer and quickly grabbed the hazmat suits, decontamination equipment and signs. They loaded them onto the back of their trailer and quickly drove off.
Sharon followed him down Highway 373 over to Highway 50. They pulled off the road and into a deserted barn, they had found earlier that day. This allowed them to hide while they transferred their goods and prepared the semi for the remainder of their trip.
“Sharon, pull guard duty for an hour or so to make sure no one followed us.”
“Sure, I was heading outside in a minute anyway.”
Sharon left the barn, walked up to the road and immediately saw lights heading their way. The vehicle turned off the road about a half mile away and then a few minutes later headed her way again only to pull off the road again.
She ran into the barn and said, “There is a vehicle about a quarter mile east of here and they appear to be searching for us.”
“Well, we’ll just have to make them sorry they made that decision.”
He grabbed his M4 and several extra magazines, then followed his wife out to the road.
“If they turn in to the barn, kill them all.”
“It’s a shame they followed us. They could be sleeping instead of dying.”
The truck slowed and turned in to the driveway to the barn and house. It moved very slow, then stopped in front of the barn and two men got out. They were armed with shotguns and pistols. There was no cover so Aaron knew he had to shoot them. He aimed the M4, squeezed the trigger and the closest man fell to the ground. He heard Sharon’s gun bark and the other man died as he fell. They drugged the bodies into the barn and Aaron parked their truck in the barn.
“I have an idea for these bodies. We will take them with us.”
“Damn, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Yes, I’m going to make small burns on their faces and they will be our quarantined sick patients.”
“Great idea. A bit macabre, but should be effective. Let’s transfer our gear and supplies quickly. The locals heard those gunshots and we don’t need more company. I’ll move the supplies while you prepare the semi and trailer.”
It took over two hours for Aaron to transfer their supplies to the trailer. He even had to secure a large part of it to the top of the trailer because he ran out of space.
Sharon finished her work attaching signs on the trailer before Aaron finished moving the supplies, so she helped him finish his task. They left their pickup in the barn and drove the semi south on back roads until they cleared the city of West Point and headed south on Highway 45.
“Darling, do you think I might have over done it with the biological hazard signs on the semi and trailer?”
“You sure are scaring the hell out of everyone manning the roadblocks. The last man nearly crapped his pants when you stepped down from the truck in the full hazmat suit and offered to show him the patients in the back of the truck.”
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Chapter 16
The Boat
Safe House
Bayou La Batre, Louisiana
They drove night and day straight to Mobile, only stopping for restroom breaks and to get diesel fuel at an abandoned truck stop.
There was only one narrow escape at Meridian when an over eager policeman ordered them to open the back of the semi to see the patients. Sharon told him that Ebola was very difficult to treat and he ran off like a little girl when he saw the two bodies.
Upon arriving at Bayou La Batre, they immediately scared the few locals out of eight of their nine lives.
Aaron led the way to their safe house, and drove the semi into a warehouse on a nearby property. Initially the place appeared to be deserted, but a man walked out of a house down the street and waved at them.
“Mort, oh, my God it’s good to see you. Where is everyone?”
“I’m glad to see you too, Aaron. They all flew out of here two days ago, headed for Uruguay. The fact is that we didn’t have enough planes for everyone. People kept adding people who were friends of friends. We’re leaving as soon as possible.
The U.S. is being invaded and it sure looks like Mobile is off loading troops and supplies.”
“Why did you stay behind?”
“Someone had to. I sure as hell hope you are still a champion sailor?”
“I’m sure I can still hold my own on a sailboat.”
“Good. See that mast sticking up above the houses?”
“Yes.”
“Well, you are sailing it to South America while I follow you in a motor yacht.”
“How big is the sailboat?”
“It’s a Beneteau 62 that we have added extra fuel tanks for the iron sail and extra water tanks.”
“How many horsepower is the auxiliary engine?”
“165 HP, you can cruise a long way on 365 gallons of diesel when the wind is calm.”
“How many people do you have here that need to go with us?”
“There are 10 of us poor Jews left here that, like the boll weevil are searchin’ for a new home.”
Smiling now, Aaron looked at Sharon and said, “Personally, I prefer an analogy of Moses, yet again in search of the Promised Land.
Then again, I do like Mort’s sense of humor…”
Mort laughed and asked, “When will your group arrive?”
“They should arrive tomorrow night.”
“Aaron, that’s cutting it very close. Boats are already landing in Mobile. If one warship strays over here we could all be captured or killed.”
“I can’t leave my friends.”
“Ok, ok, I get it, but we’ll have to sneak out of here at night. Don’t be such a mensch.
I see you drove up in a semi with Hazardous Biological markings on it. I’m guessing that’s how you managed to deliver a 53 foot trailer filled with food to Bayou La Batre without being robbed.”
“Yes, it scared the crap out of the gangs and police.”
“Perhaps we may have to tow a barge to take all of the food.”
“Sorry my friend, but most of it is MREs that we liberated from an American air force base. So calling it food is a bit of a stretch.
One of my friends arriving tomorrow told me that the letters M. R. E. really stand for Meals Rejected by Ethiopia. Oh well, what the hell, they do fill the void.”
“A hungry belly will grow to appreciate MREs.”
Aaron sighed knowingly, “Let’s see the boats and start loading so we can leave as soon as our friends arrive.”
Mort introduced them to the rest of the group before they started loading. There were eight adults and five children. All but two of the adults and one child were Israelis. The three had lived next to Mort and he couldn’t leave them here.
Aaron made a mental note that there were 16 people here now and 20 to 30 arriving soon. He would ask Davi how large her flock was. They mi
ght need another boat.
***
“Angel, what is your ETA and how large is your flock?”
“Soonest, 16 hours with 24 sheep.”
“I have new coordinates.”
Davi checked her map and replied, “Add 20 minutes to that ETA.”
“Angel, speed it up. You may be arriving in a hot LZ. The wolves are close. Come in prepared, but as fast as possible. Be ready to depart this location as soon as you transfer your gear.”
“We’re always ready.”
The motor yacht was an older 80-footer with twin diesels that had been stripped of anything not necessary to get them the thousand miles to their new home. Beds, couches and game tables were tossed in favor of cots and sleeping bags. Food, other supplies, and drums of fuel were stored on the open deck. The boat was ready to head out at a moment’s notice.
The Beneteau was the most beautiful sailboat that Aaron had ever seen, even with the cabins and lounge area stripped out to make room for cots and supplies.
Both boats were stripped of anything that added weight to the boat, or reduced their ability to hold supplies and fuel. The once beautiful sailing ship now looked more like cargo ships on the inside. Aaron, a historian, was reminded of the Queen Elizabeth after being converted from a luxury liner to a troop transport in 1942.
They spent the day loading the boats with supplies from the trailer and mounting two SAWs and two, caliber .50 MGs on each boat. The .556 SAWs were stored on the deck, but had mounts on the rails so that they could be brought to bear quickly. The .50 caliber MGs had mounts on the front decks and they covered them with tarps. Mort and Aaron stored two Stinger missiles and five LAWs on each boat in case they needed heavier firepower. Mort placed several Russian RPG 9’s below deck in reserve.
The boats had no armor, but could unleash hell on anyone trying to screw with them. They weren’t worried about military naval ships attacking them once they got out of port, but pirates may be a huge concern.
“Mort, has there been any pirate activity around Mobile?”
“Yes, they began rearing their ugly heads shortly after the Navy and Coast Guard pulled out and headed to Florida to help fight the Cuban invasion.
The first radio report of piracy came only a few days later; we heard distress calls from a boat under attack. It was off the coast by Pascagoula when the calls went silent. There have been several boats and a few large ships attacked since then.”
“That is my most significant fear once we head out on the sea. I know we can make the trip without any major issues, barring a hurricane, of course, but we must be prepared for Peg Leg Pete trying to take our boat.”
“It’s worse than that. Some of the pirates want slaves and women to sell in Mexico. It is getting to be a large business.”
***
On the road to
Bayou La Batre, Louisiana
We made good time, except for deciding to skirt around Tupelo and Meridian. I didn’t want to take a chance on facing a gang in a gun fight trapped between buildings and barricades.
We were still traveling at night so we didn’t meet many people except at roadblocks and most of them were just like us, trying to survive.
A few asked us for food and other supplies. We had to turn them down. All but a few just waved as we left, but a couple of groups demanded that we share our food with them.
I had to shoot the leader of one group between the eyes and Davi fired a burst from the SAW over the heads. This tended to calm them down. People were starving and didn’t care that it was our food; they just needed it, but so did we.
Most of these were filthy and didn’t try to feed themselves. They were used to feeding off the government teat. They simply could not fathom the concept that Uncle Sam died in the last nuclear attack in Pennsylvania, or perhaps he passed away a year ago.
It was dark when we finally arrived in the area around Mobile.
Davi and I looked at the map during our last restroom break, decided to get off Highway 45 and work our way to the west of Mobile Regional Airport, and then down to Bayou La Batre. We turned south on Highway 25 and were cruising along when we saw lights up ahead at the Highway 70 crossing.
I signaled the column to stop and Davi and I walked up the side of the road towards what appeared to be a roadblock. Our luck had run out on good old boys manning roadblocks.
This was a professional crew dressed in black Battle Dress Uniforms, BDUs, with body armor and Humvees with turret mounted SAWs. We scurried back to our convoy and backtracked to the next turn west. We had to cut through subdivisions and a few dirt roads before we found a road heading south again.
Unfortunately, there we found another roadblock manned by the same type of troops.
Davi said, “Those men are guarding all access to the airport. We either have to go way out of our way, or run their roadblock.”
“I don’t want to risk a fight with the kids in the trucks. Let’s try to go further west.”
We turned around, drove down a road heading west and came to a dead end.
“We either have to cut across country or head back north to get around Big Creek Lake.”
“Let’s cut across to the next street heading south.”
We drove through a thinly wooded area, crossed a small creek and found an opening between two houses to get to the next street heading south. Just as we pulled onto the street, I saw a Humvee parked at the house across the street. The lights came on in the house and a man ran out with a rifle. He walked toward us and I saw that he had the black BDUs and an M4 pointing at us.
Davi slipped out the passenger side, drew a bead on the bastard and shot him in the head. Before he fell to the ground, lights came on in all of the houses around us and armed men came running out shooting at us as we sped south.
I looked in the mirror and said, “I think we just crashed the neighborhood of the local militia.”
“Those assholes were dressed like Prescott’s men. I wonder………..”
Davi had to start shooting since we were taking fire from both sides and behind us. Everyone was firing back and both SAWs were effectively slowing the enemy fire. We had stepped into a hornet’s nest.
“Get the fuck out of here. Hit the gas.”
We hit the end of the block, the firing stopped from the sides and only a few shots were coming in from behind. I floored my truck and was getting the hell out of Dodge when Ben radioed that we were being followed.
Davi yelled, “We can’t let these assholes follow us to the gulf. We have to stop them now. Keep driving while I grab some LAWS. I’ll have Mike and Roger do the same.
I want you to pull behind a barn or house after I tell them the plan. We are going to put an end to this shit, then hurry the hell up to our awaiting Ark. Now, I’m pissed, and I’ve had enough of people shooting at me!”
“Call them now.”
Davi gave them the plan while I searched ahead for something to hide behind when we ambushed these bastards. I saw several semi-trailers parked beside a couple of small buildings and drove between them stopping behind the closest building.
“Joan, Ally, take Sam and Jacob’s wives and the children behind the other building and hide there until this thing is over.”
“What about Forrest?”
“Sorry. Leave him where he is. We don’t have time to move him.”
We positioned the two vehicles with the SAWs so they had a good field of fire. I sent Jacob and Sam to our flanks with the other two SAWS. The rest of us took LAWs rockets for the Humvees charging at us.
We could hear the enemy vehicles approaching. They came around a curve and Davi and Roger fired at the same time and an instant later two Humvees exploded. Ben, Mike and I fired ours and two more exploded. Mike missed his and it backed up behind a truck.
Mike was pinned down behind a truck in a cross fire by several of the enemy, now in infantry mode, and couldn’t rise high enough to get position for accurate return fire. One figured out he couldn’t hit Mike
directly and started firing at a brick retaining wall behind him. Bits of brick peppered Mike from behind, along with the risk of ricochets.
He dropped down below the truck and shot one of the bastards in the head and another through the neck. The last one obviously decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and ran away from the fight.
Mike had a handful of small wounds on his neck and back from the metal and brick striking him, but had a more serious wound on the back of his right shoulder.
“Mike yelled, “Damn, I’ve been hit in my neck and back.”
I yelled back, “Rub some dirt on it, then walk it off, you pussy.”
We had a brief firefight with four men from the Humvee and killed two before they backed away and sped off away from us. Living to fight again another day is not cowardice. It’s called preservation of forces. I fired a Law at them, but hit a damn tree branch hanging over the road.
“Davi yelled, “Let’s go before they come back.”
“Anybody wounded?”
“Me,” Mike yelled.
I chuckled and said, “Oh, good grief, Mike, go see the school nurse and get a Band-Aid. You’re such a wussy.”
Smiling himself, now, Mike retorted, “Ok, ok, but just remember, what goes around comes around.”
Ricochets had nicked both Mike and Ben. There were both crabby and bitchy, but the poor babies were okay.
Sally kept pressure on Mike’s wound and the bleeding stopped before we made it two blocks down the road. Ben only needed a bandage.
As always, we took the weapons and ammo from the fallen, loaded up and hit the road. I kept the peddle to the metal for over half an hour slowing to a more normal pace as we approached the north end of Bayou La Batre.
The only good news was that Forrest woke up. The bad news was he had to be told he was a couple hundred miles from the lake. Joan filled him in on what happened while he was unconscious and he surprised us by saying we did the right thing by taking him and his kids with us.
